strawberry pickin'

Leslie and I took the kids to southern belle this morning to do some strawberry picking!  There were TONS and it made the fields smell absolutely delicious.

Logan enjoyed running up and down the rows.

Micah was on the hunt for the biggest strawberries in the patch.

Found one!  

Leslie and Mr. William

Connor was looking cool with his hands in his pockets.

Little ducks all in a row.

CHEESE!!

I convinced them to smile by threatening to not get to jump on the big pillow.

PIllow jumping

                             

While the big kids jumped on the ginormous pillow Logi found his sweet spot.

Micah  wanted a picture with Logan so bad but he refused to stop shoveling sand.  He did say cheese though so it kind of counted.

The two oldest.  Such sweet friends.

memorial day

About a month ago I made some fun plans with my family for Memorial Day.  They were all going to Montgomery for a Biscuits game Sunday night and we were going to meet them down there Monday to go to the zoo and then head to spend the week in Enterprise because school is out and we were finally free to go down there and see everyone.

Then this happened and instead I am spending the week packing and cleaning, not visiting.  However I am not complaining because #1 after a 4 year process we are moving #2 our plan B was pretty darn great.

Zach, the boys and I went on a quick shopping trip Monday morning to the outlets to get Micah some non school clothes and picked up a couple goodies for ourselves i.e. some nike running shorts for me so I can be like all the cool kids at school ;)

After rest time we went to Arabia Mountain with the Cardozas and Donovan and Grace to run out some energies, get some exercise and enjoy the gorgeous albeit hot weather :-)  The kids had a great time and Logan actually stayed in the hiking carrier the whole time which made the trip way easier.  Maybe he can actually make it through Stone Mountain this summer!?

We decided to celebrate our journey by going to the Cardozas grilling out and playing cornhole :)  

Fun impromptu day!

moving

Four years and three months ago we put our house on the market.  I was pregnant with Connor and we were looking forward to being able to move somewhere that was a little roomier so that guests could have a babyless place to sleep and we could have friends over without either waking up the children since they were only ten feet away from the living room or feeling claustrophic when trying to figure out where everyone should sit.

Fast forward two years and nine months and we took the house off the market because I was about to have Logan and couldn't handle the job of keeping the house ready and leaving with three kids at a moments notice if someone actually wanted to come see the house.  Not to mention the distress of a housing crash that placed our homes "worth" so far below what we paid that our entire savings would have been drained just to get out.

It is 19 months since that decision and thus began our "what are we going to do" mode, but now I am looking around at my half packed up house savoring in the memories of the past 8+ years of being here and knowing that, as usual, all my worrying and frustrations were frivolous because God is, as usual, right on time with what He decided and planned for.

Zach went through months and months where he checked rentals and even for sale homes daily to find something that would fit our needs and desires.  There was usually two things wrong.  The first was that the rental was really expensive as people who bought in the bubble were trying to cover their insane mortgages or the house and deal were great and were snapped up by someone else before we even had a chance for someone to return our phone calls.  We were totally convinced we had found a great rental home and had already started moving in our heads when a few hours later we found out that someone else had already beaten us to it....again.  At least when God shut a door he shut it quickly ;)  

But then on Connor's birthday Z got a phone call that started the domino effect and in a matter of four days we had friends who were going to rent our house and a great rental property that will be the perfect transitional home until we can decide where exactly to put down rootier roots, sell and buy.  

Looking at the situation as a whole it reminds me of the passage in Acts that Dave based his sermon on last week.  Paul, Silas and Timothy were trying to preach in different areas of Asia but the Holy Spirit kept stopping it and they didn't understand until Paul had his vision of spreading the gospel in Macedonia.  You just never know where you're being led sometimes until you get there and what God is planning not only for you but people you will one day be in community with until it happens.

So as far as we know and have planned, for at least the next year we will be residing at 70 Westover Place in Covington, Georgia and then pray, hope that we will be able to sell our home and purchase a new one hopefully still here as our church grows or maybe somewhere else if God makes me do it.  

All I do know is when you wait on the Lord you learn a vast amount about patience, contentment and your own selfish weaknesses and when you see His hand you hopefully begin to say...

But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord,
    I wait for God my Savior;
    my God will hear me.

Micah 7:7

first and last

First

and last.

BTW We did not tell him to make the exact same face again.  Apparently he has a repertoire that he runs through every time we try to take his picture!

and more just for kicks.

kindergarten celebration

My Micah May is a grader....seriously!  I still can't believe it's not him who is still in the crib calling for me in the mornings and ready to snuggle on the couch to watch monkey.  And now I'm crying just thinking about it.

Today we went to school to see Micah's Kindergarten Celebration program.  It was adorable!  They sang three songs and did a poem.  Micah had been practicing for me in the car.  My favorite was the one set to the tune of Summer Nights from Grease.  It was a much more appropriate song than the original though ;-)

One of the songs they did was a rap and Micah got to be one of the beat box guys.  He was pretty pumped about it!

The best part though was how my shy don't look at me boy strode right up to the principal, looked him straight in the eye and shook his hand when his name was called.  He has grown in confidence so much this year and it makes me smile.

Before he started Kindergarten I wasn't worried about how he'd learn or what if his teachers would teach him enough. I knew he'd do great and they would be great and if they weren't we'd figure it out at home.  All I wanted was for him to find friends who would love and encourage him and teachers who would love him for who he was.  Ms. Corbett and Mrs. Clemons were wonderful.  They truly adored my firstborn for who he was just like they did the rest of their kids.  He met some great new buddies and became a leader and positive example for his classmates.  

I am oh so proud of the person God has made my son and am continuing to pray that Micah will see and understand God's will for his life.

I love you my sweet FIRST GRADER!!!

team party

The Cubs had their team party at the ball field tonight and what better way to start off the festivities than to run around the field playing "air" baseball!

They each got a trophy, their line up card from the dug out, and a bucket full of goodies.  Their coach also brought them up one at a time to share something about each player.  He complimented Micah on his hitting and fielding, dependability and RBIs and told Zach he'd love to have Micah on his team next year in the 7/8 year old league.  

In a world full of...well worldliness, we are so thankful for a coach who loves the Lord, loves his players and encourages them all no matter what!

wrapping up another season

Micah's 2nd season of baseball ended tonight with a 13-20 loss to the Yankees.  Considering they were the #1 team in the league and last time we played them two guys hit it over the fence (in a 5-6 year old league mind you) we were pretty excited on how we did.

Micah had a great skill year playing and another fun year playing 

and I'm sure we have many more ahead of us :)